While Washington simmers over defunding Obamacare and whether or not the government will “shut down” and the air is filled with anger, insults and defamation – another issue remains undecided, and at the moment, not even discussed.

What about illegal immigration? What about the millions of illegals already here and the hundreds of thousands swarming across the border every month?

Who are they? Where do they come from? What language(s) do they speak? Are they literate? Do they have skills? Are they healthy? Where do they go once they’re here? Who’s helping them continue as law-breakers? What American taxpayer funded social services are they using? Who hires them illegally? What kinds of illegal, forged and/or stolen identification are they using?

To hear the accepted line from politicians and media, there are 11 million illegals here and once some kind of law is passed to make their lives easier and legal, then everything will be OK.

If you believe them, there will no longer be an “illegal” problem, everybody will be happy, no one will be in the shadows anymore and life will be fair and equitable for everyone and we will be one happy American family.

Believe that and I’ve got a couple of bridges for you.

The bipartisan “Gang of Seven” in the House has supposedly been working on the issues in a plan for immigration reform and coming up with some kind of consensus that everyone will sign onto.

But all’s not well behind those closed doors and according to a report in the Washington Post, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., says, “The process is stalled. I don’t believe we’re going to produce a bill anytime soon.”

That’s the best news I’ve heard all week!

The problem is several-fold but bottom line, are we seeking a bill to fix/reform the negative aspects of the current immigration laws and make them better and more effective or are we looking for a way to give amnesty to the current law-breakers and then, maybe make some changes?

The answers to those questions are all over the board, making a solution almost impossible.

Millions of words have been spoken and written about those issues but the one aspect of all the contemplated changes that’s almost always either ignored or pushed to the background has to do with securing the border.

But it’s more than that. The real question is: What does “secure the border” mean?

Some people want the border to be so secure that virtually no one can get across illegally – whether people looking for the proverbial “better life,” those being smuggled across to work in agriculture, factories and prostitution and/or those crossing to perpetuate the lucrative trade in drugs and weapons.

It seems logical that if you can secure the border to stop that traffic, we might actually have a positive impact on our cities and towns, which are being heavily impacted by all that illegal activity.

But others don’t want the border to look “militarized.” They want a warm, friendly, welcoming feel – which is a nice idea, but just how is that accomplished?

People like me ask the question: If you give amnesty to those already here, how and when do you stop the stream of new border-crossers?

And who will be counting? When they get to 11 million, do they stop? What happens to the millions more who are here but whom we pretend aren’t?

As if the problem isn’t bad enough on the face of it, we have lies and deceptions on all sides.

What message is sent to illegals when Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., sends a letter to Homeland Security asking that they stop enforcing immigration law so farm workers can come here and work?

Isn’t she supposed to defend the Constitution?

What message is sent to young illegals, the so-called “Dreamers,” that Barack Obama wants to reward with citizenship because they are so special and honorable, when they have a website that teaches them how to lie on any paperwork they’ll be asked to complete?

What are we supposed to think when the Supreme Court orders illegals, convicted of crimes and jailed, to be released if their home country won’t accept them?

More than 60,000 were freed since last year; just recently nearly 3,000 who’d been convicted of sex crimes.

Imagine – let loose in our cities and towns.

It’s interesting how people are concerned with their personal security.

They have locks on their windows and doors; sometimes bars on those same windows and doors and often alarm systems on the whole structure.

People have dogs and protective property lighting as recommended by police.

And, we’re insured. Our houses, personal property, cars and trucks and boats and everything else – all insured, if we can afford it.

We don’t want anyone to take what is ours and on top of all that, we have insurance for fire, flood, earthquake and any other calamity.

If you’re in California, you’re required to have “uninsured drivers insurance” on your car. It protects you if you’re in an accident with – uh-oh – an illegal alien driving without a license!

Why is it OK to protect ourselves and our possessions, and yet we’re asked to treat our country so carelessly that we’re supposed to ignore the millions of illegals who live here breaking other laws and we’re supposed to reward them with citizenship?